Qadaffy's...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland...
heavily defended Bab al-Aziziya compound and house in Tripoli on Tuesday after a day of heavy fighting,
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
an Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent witnessed.
The defenders had decamped, and there was no immediate word on Qadaffy's whereabouts after the rebels breached the defenses as part of a massive assault that began in the morning.
"Rebels breached the surrounding cement walls and entered inside. They have taken Bab al-Aziziya. Completely. It is finished," the correspondent said.
"It is an incredible sight."
Only minutes earlier, rebel front man Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said from Benghazi: "Our forces are surrounding Bab al-Aziziya. There is a fierce battle going on there. We are now controlling one of the gates, the western entrance."
In the hours that led up to the storming of the compound in central Tripoli, the sound of the fighting was the most intense heard in the city since rebels arrived three days ago.
The sky was filled with the sound of heavy and light machine guns as well as mortars, with the overhead roar of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
jets that had been carrying intensive overflights though it was unclear if there were any air strikes.
Even two kilometers from the fighting, the almost constant whistle of falling bullets could be hear from the rooftops, as the city's mosques chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest).
Rebels also said that around 93 percent of the capital had fallen into their hands, quoted by Al-Arabiya television.
Exultant rebel fighters packed in trucks and cars have since Sunday streamed across the capital of the oil-rich North African state, seizing control of Qadaffy's state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
network and Tripoli's seaside Green Square.
But the euphoria of their lightning entry into the heart of the capital, which sparked celebrations and predictions that Qadaffy's days are numbered, has given way to caution that the fighting is far from over.
U.S. President Barack
B.O.Obama called for "an inclusive transition" in Libya, demanding that Qadaffy "explicitly" give up power and cautioned the rebels that their struggles were "not over yet."
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet, who on Monday had declared "The regime has fallen, the turnaround is total", said on La Belle France Inter radio Tuesday: "In Libya the situation is not totally at an end, far from it."
The opposition's image took a knock when its claims that Qadaffy's son Seif al-Islam had been incarcerated were refuted by none other than the man himself, who appeared before cheering armed loyalists outside Bab al-Aziziya in the early hours of Tuesday.
"Tripoli is under our control. Everyone should rest assured. All is well in Tripoli," Seif told journalists at the compound, smiling broadly and flashing the V for victory sign.
"I am here to refute the lies," the 39-year-old said about reports of his arrest, and accused the West of waging a "technological and media war to cause chaos and terror in Libya."
Seif, who like his father is wanted by the
International Criminal Court... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
(ICC) for crimes against humanity, claimed the cut-throats had suffered "heavy casualties" Monday when they launched their first attempt to storm the Bab al-Aziziya compound.
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg insisted in London that the defiant appearance of Seif was "not the sign of some great comeback for the Qadaffy regime".
"He is not roaming freely through Tripoli. He and the remaining pro-Qadaffy forces are now cornered, they are making their last stand, and it's only a matter of time before they are finally defeated," Clegg said.
The opposition also suffered another setback when Mohammed Qadaffy, the leader's eldest son, beat feet from house arrest, according to the Libyan ambassador to Washington in an interview with CNN.
Outside of the capital, the rebels said they had cut off a column of pro-Qadaffy troops attempting to march on Tripoli from the city of Sirte, the leader's hometown.
According to a NATO official in Brussels, loyalist forces fired a Scud missile in the direction of the rebel-held western city of Misrata during Monday fighting.
The "surface-to-surface Scud" was launched "from the vicinity of Sirte," chief NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.
It "landed in the coastal area of Misrata, most likely in the sea or on the shore," she said, adding "we are not aware of damage or casualties."
The mood around Tripoli's iconic Green Square, renamed "Martyrs Square" by the rebels, had been joyous on Sunday night, with fighters and their supporters dancing and waving the red, black and green flag of anti-regime forces.
But Tripoli residents have since become palpably nervous as the end game plays out.
The rebels are hesitant about how to secure the parts of Tripoli not already under their control: whether to advance through broad boulevards, where they could be vulnerable to sniper fire, or to fight through narrow back streets.
"The Qadaffy era is over," rebel chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil told a news conference in the anti-Qadaffy stronghold of Benghazi, eastern Libya.
But while thanking NATO for its military support, he conceded that not all of Tripoli was under rebel control and cautioned that "the real moment of victory is when Qadaffy is captured".
The whereabouts of the strongman are not known but the United States said it did not believe he has left Libya.
Qadaffy broadcast three defiant audio messages on Sunday, vowing he would never surrender and urging the people of Tripoli to "purge the capital". But he has not been seen in public for weeks as the rebels have crept ever closer.